South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) has launched a year-long events initiative as part of its employee engagement programme, LeadWell Development.Kick-starting this summer, the new initiative, SYsHAre, aims to develop collaboration across the organisation, encourage employee wellbeing and improve employee engagement.The events, run in partnership with Team Activ, will include mini challenges such as moving ping pong balls from one container to another using chopsticks, mini darts and archery, relay races and mental challenges such as solving riddles within a set time limit.During treasure hunt style activities, employees will win the coordinates to the next challenge once the first has been completed. The challenges will run both inside the organisation’s office and around the nearby city centre.The challenges have been designed to encourage teamwork and communication, with managers receiving training so they can plan future challenges and activities for staff.The initiative will also include the development of an online toolkit to further support employee wellbeing.Tim Gallimore, organisational development manager at SYHA, said: “At SYHA, the engagement and wellbeing of our people is a top priority. We want to give them the skills to help manage change and empower them to achieve their full potential.”read more

Something for the weekend: Sporting events often have the power to bring entire offices to a standstill, whether it’s the England football team playing in the World Cup or Andy Murray competing in a centre court final at Wimbledon.However, US baseball team Chicago Cubs took this a step further by tweeting an official excuse note for fans to deliver to their managers, asking for time away from work to watch the World Series final on Wednesday 2 November 2016.Posted on the Chicago Cubs’ twitter page before the game, the handy note allows employees to personalise it with their details, ready to pass on to their line manager.The excuse note reads:“To Whom It May Concern:Please excuse from class/work/other responsibility on Wednesday, Nov.2, 2016.The Chicago Cubs are playing Game 7 of the World Series, and if you are not familiar with sports narratives…well, it’s kind of a big deal.We need all the support we can muster up, and has been an integral part of our fan base for days/weeks/months/years, and we cannot #FlyTheW without them.Thank you so much for understanding, and if you ever need a cute GIF tweeted at you, we are your Twitter account.Respectfully yours,@Cubs”The Cubs went on to achieve an 8-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians, winning the World Series for the first time since 1908.Here at Employee Benefits, we like to think that the additional support generated by the excuse note helped the Cubs to victory…read more

Byrne Bros is to pay more than 150 construction workers a total of approximately £250,000 in unpaid holiday pay.Employees at London-based projects Westfield in White City, The International Quarter in Stratford and 100 Bishopsgate issued a collective grievance, backed by trade union Unite, to secure payments of between £400 and £1,000 each. They are also expecting further back payments.Affected employees brought the grievance against the concrete frame contracting organisation because previous holiday pay calculations did not take into account completed overtime shifts. Holiday pay calculations were based on staff working 39 hours a week, however, employees often worked 55 hours a week because they felt compelled to perform overtime on Saturdays, according to Unite.Byrne Bros initially attempted to deal with the grievance on an individual basis, however, staff called for a collective solution. As a result, Byrne Bros is now in the process of paying individuals holiday pay based on the longer hours worked, including any outstanding back pay.In July 2017, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay calculations in the case Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mr G. Willetts. Mark Soave, regional officer at Unite, said: “This is a fantastic result with significant sums of money for the [employees] at Byrne [Bros]. Even though they were entitled to more money, management tried to avoid the payments. After a hard-fought campaign, Byrne Bros eventually realised the strength of feeling among the [employees] and agreed to the payouts worth hundreds of thousands [of pounds].”Byrne Bros was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.read more

MIAMI (WSVN) – Take heart, South Florida, hundreds of residents care about raising heart disease awareness.More than 750 people laced up their sneakers and hit the pavement at Museum Park in Downtown Miami, Sunday morning, to take part in the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk.The event aimed to promote physical activity and heart-healthy living while raising money for heart disease awareness. Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. “Life is why we walk for a healthier heart.” Our very own Joe Natoli, chief administration officer, served as the 2017 #MiamiHeartWalk chair and led participants, donors and volunteers who accepted the challenge to help fight heart disease and stroke. #LoveYourHeartMore pic.twitter.com/88AKcPF1Br— Baptist Health S FL (@BaptistHealthSF) November 19, 2017The Miami-Dade chair of Heart Walk, Joe Natoli, expressed his gratitude about the outpouring of support from the community. “I’m just so grateful for everybody who came out this morning,” he said. “There were several thousand people who came to Miami, to Downtown, to Museum Park — which was just such a spectacular location — to do good for our community, and for their neighbors and their relatives, and I just want to thank everybody very much, especially my colleagues at Baptist Health.”7’s own Diana Diaz was on hand to walk for the cause and emcee the event. read more

Police are seeking the public’s help in locating a man who, they said, was caught on surveillance video robbing a gas station in Davie at gunpoint, Saturday.The thief approached the counter of the Shell gas station, located near State Road 7 and Griffin Road, and demanded money.The clerk initially didn’t see the gun and tried to stop him from reaching into the register. The clerk then backed away.The thief took the cash and walked out.If you have any information on this robbery, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MIAMI (WSVN) – Free breakfast is on the menu at Denny’s, but there’s a catch.Denny’s is handing out free Grand Slam breakfasts to those who use their online ordering. Anyone who signs up with the service and places an order via Denny’s On Demand will earn one free breakfast.The Grand Slam promotion ends Jan. 31.For more information, click here.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) – Officials have located a previously missing man with Alzheimer’s disease who was last seen in Pembroke Pines.According to police, 82-year-old Roberto Angel Perez was immediately transported to a nearby hospital and remains in critical condition.Police said Perez was found in an isolated area of landscape and brush. No foul play suspected.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. COOPER CITY, FLA. (WSVN) – Authorities are investigating potential Valentine’s Day threats at a middle school in Cooper City.Officials at Pioneer Middle School told Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives that students were hearing about a threat planned for the same day as the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Monday morning, there was an increased presence of law enforcement at the school, as students began the school week.“There are more police cars. There’s usually like one or two police officers around, but there’s a police officer with like a full bullet-proof vest on,” said Daryel Rodriguez, an 8th grader at the school. “That’s not normal. We don’t usually see that.”When asked what it felt like to have the extra police presence at the school, Rodriguez responded, “I kind of feel a little bit safer because we have the police officer there, but I also feel kind of scared because that means that something might actually happen that we might need that police officer.”Pioneer officials said a teacher advised the school principal on Friday of some phone calls students received about potential threats this coming Thursday. The principal and the teacher then contacted authorities.BSO continues to investigate. read more

OAKLAND PARK, FLA. (WSVN) – Broward Sheriff’s Office are searching for a man who was caught on surveillance video stealing several liquor bottles from an Oakland Park store, then stating his intentions to employees before taking off.The security footage captures the brazen bandit entering the ABC Fine Wine & Spirits along North Federal Highway, near Northeast 20th Avenue, Feb. 12.Cameras then showed the subject shoving bottles of whiskey, tequila and vodka in a bag.Officials said the thief then asked employees what they’d do if he walked out without paying, then made a run for it, knocking one of the staffers down on the way out.If you have any information on this theft, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.read more

MIAMI (WSVN) – Police are investigating after two armed men took off with a man’s car in Miami.According to officials, a man was waiting for a friend outside a home in the area of Northwest Sixth Court and 69th Street at around 6 a.m., Tuesday when two men approached him.The crooks demanded the victim’s 2017 Nissan Altima at gunpoint and fled from the scene in the vehicle.The victim was treated on scene by City of Miami Fire Rescue for minor lacerations. Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

State Elections Director Josie Bahnke: “We highly encourage voter participation in the General Election and ask all Alaskans to remind their friends, families and neighbors to register to vote now or double-check their registration information to make sure it reflects where they currently reside ahead of the statutory deadline.” Alaskans can check their voter registration status at myvoterinformation.alaska.gov or by contacting a Division of Elections regional office. Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享Alaskans have until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, October 7, to register for the November 6 general election, according to the state Division of Elections. The November ballot will feature a three-way race for governor between Mark Begich, a Democrat, Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, and incumbent Governor Bill Walker, an independent. People who need to register to vote or update their registration information can do so in person at a regional office or online at voterregistration.alaska.gov.read more

Local Magazines-1.7 Advertising for national newspapers took the hardest hit, slipping 7.7 percent in 2007. Late last week, the Newspaper Association of America released its year-end numbers showing advertising revenue down 9.4 percent, the worst drop in more than 50 years. Local Sunday Supplements-4.9 Network Radio-3.9 Ad Spending 2007 vs. 2006%CHNG Outdoor7.2 National Magazines7.6 National Newspaper-7.7 Spanish-Language TV1.5 Internet18.9 B-to-B Magazines-4 Spot Radio-2 National Sunday Supplements4.9 Network TV-1.5 National Cable TV2.2 U.S. advertising spending increased 7.6 percent for national magazines in 2007, according to the latest figures from the Nielsen Company’s Monitor-Plus. Marketers’ spending on b-to-b magazines, however, fell 4 percent, while “local” titles saw a 1.7 percent drop.Overall advertising spending increased 0.6 percent. Internet advertising, not surprisingly, led all other media categories with an 18.9 percent increase. National magazines saw the second highest gain, with outdoor advertising following close behind with a 7.2 percent increase.Spending on network television, hit hard by the Writers Guild strike last fall, dipped 1.5 percent when compared to 2006. Local Newspaper-7.5 Spot TV Markets 1-100-5.1 Spot TV Markets 101-210-2.6 SOURCE: Nielsen Monitor-Plusread more

The FOLIO: 40—our annual list of industry innovators and influencers—was officially unveiled today. We call it the oldest, most comprehensive and most distinguished compilation of its kind. Because it is. Obviously, it’s not an all-inclusive affair; rather, it’s roughly the result of two months of meetings, scouring notes, archives, old issues of FOLIO:, Wiki-researching, more meetings, spirited reply-all emails, paring down, another meeting, some brushing up on profile writing, then the actual profile writing, editing, copyediting. And, then, at some point, we get to this.And, unlike other industry lists—perhaps unfairly—ours is Adam Moss free! (Though I’d admit that not including someone from New York magazine or its nymag.com juggernaut was one of our biggest oversights this year).But, as every magazine editor knows, that’s the beauty of lists. They’re a jumping off point for a nuanced and overarching reflection on a particular slice of an industry. Or something. So, let the commenting—and requisite arguing—begin!read more

1. Compared to 2007, how much do you expect your total compensation to change in 2008? Increase: 64%Expect It to Stay the Same: 31%Decrease: 5%2. Have You Taken on Additional Responsibilities?Yes: 72% No: 16% 3. If yes, how well do you feel you have been compensated for these additional responsibilities? Very well: 8%Well: 15% Fair: 27%Not so well: 23% Not well at all: 27% 4. Are You Currently Looking for Job? Yes, actively looking: 13%No, but strongly considering it: 25%No, not considering it: 61%[NOTE: The full FOLIO: 2008 Editorial Salary Survey,conducted by Readex Research, will be released with the August issue ofFOLIO: Magazine and will include title-by-title breakdowns foreditorial director/editor-in-chief, editor/executive editor and managingeditor/senior editor.] Many publishers have struggled with salespeople blowing off online sales because the commission rates don’t stack up to print (although with print sales slipping, online is looking better and better to those few salespeople who hadn’t considered it worth their time). Editors for the most part haven’t received more compensation for additional online work, but according to the FOLIO: 2008 Editorial Salary Survey, the drumbeat for more pay for more work is growing. “I’m doing more and busting out of traditional comfort zone,” said one respondent. “I expect to get more for that and won’t rest until I do.”Another respondent recognizes that online, editors can now be judged with hard numbers–typically traffic–however that can ultimately lead to some poor editorial decisions. “The movement of ad dollars from print to online has the potential to impact my future compensation increases,” says one respondent. “Online can be measured more directly, so as an editor, I’m evaluated as much on clicks and editorial quality and maybe more so!”Below are some highlights from the survey on editors’ increasing workload and their increasing expectations.read more

For instance, the group created a “Nerve Center” at Golf.com for The Masters, a tool that continuously aggregated expert opinions, social media conversations and leaderboards, and updates from The Masters in a single window. The group managed to sell several new sponsorships around the tool, with advertisers including Fidelity, Nike, Calloway, TaylorMade and Adidas. Golf.com ad revenue surrounding its coverage of The Masters was up 138 percent over last year, the group says.At SI.com, the group reported a 13 percent jump in revenue surrounding its 2010 swimsuit content, driven in part by its ramped up video package (about 100 videos in all) which attracted advertisers including Dodge, Heineken, Samsung and Mercedes Benz. SI.com’s coverage of this year’s NFL Draft was its most lucrative in the brand’s history, it says, having won buys from advertisers such as Levitra, Sheraton, the History Channel and IBM. April marked the eighth consecutive month of traffic growth online at Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Group. The publisher says SI Digital sites—including SI.com and Golf.com—saw a 16 percent spike, year-over-year, in unique visitors in April.SI.com specifically saw unique visitors in April climb 17 percent year-over-year, the company says. Year-to-date, meanwhile, uniques have grown 30 percent. Golf.com reported a 53 percent spike in uniques for April, fueled in part by interest in The Masters golf tournament.Revenue at SI Digital also is on the rise, the company says, growing 35 percent year-over-year. Time Inc. declined to offer any specific revenue numbers but says the sales increases have been driven by a number of events and SI franchises.read more

More on this topic People on the Move | 11.6.14 People on the Move | 12.12.13 People on the Move People on the Move | 1.30.14 People on the Move | 8.14.14 People on the Move | 4.26.12Just In The Atlantic Names New Global Marketing Head | People on the Move Shanker Out, Litterick In as CEO of EnsembleIQ Meredith Corp. Makes Digital-Side Promotions | People on the Move Editor & Publisher Magazine Sold to Digital Media Consultant BabyCenter Sold to Ziff Davis Parent J2 Media | News & Notes This Just In: Magazines Are Not TV NetworksPowered by Clinton Smith has been named editor-in-chief of VERANDA. Smith has been editorial director of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles since April 2008.Patrick Frater has been named Asia bureau chief at Variety, based in Hong Kong.Lily Rothman is now a reporter at TIME covering pop culture and entertainment news. She previously served as a writer and producer for TIME.com’s Entertainment section.TheStreet announced that Ron Kost, Michael McCormack, Andrew Freedman and John Ferraro have joined the advertising sales team as directors of advertising sales. Ron Kost worked with startup and blue chip media companies for many years and spent the past four years with new media companies like GigaOM media and PSN Inc.Michael McCormack has held positions with ALM, Forbes and Banner Direct.Andrew Freedman has more than 14 years of digital media sales experience. He previously represented Sojern, LinkedIn, bizjournals and Forbes.com. He joins TheStreet from Adara.John Ferraro is joining TheStreet from Seeking Alpha. He previously worked at Nasdaq.com as sales director and The Deal LLC as associate publisher. Caleb Kraft has joined UBM Tech at EE Times as chief community leader, as conference director for DESIGN West. Kraft was previously senior editor at Hackaday.com.David Dahlberg has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing at Personify Inc. He was previously chief marketing officer at Model Metrics.Tim Leong has been named design director at Fortune. He had been director of digital design at Wired. Mike Reddy has been named design director at HGTV Magazine. He previously worked as design director at Seventeen.Dan O’Shea has been appointed managing editor at the online telecom publication Light Reading.Chris Clonts has joined Motor Trend Automotive Group as director of digital content. He most recently served as managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.Douglas P. Clement has been named verticals editor of Connecticut Magazine. Previously he was the longtime editor of The Litchfield County Times, the monthly LCT magazine and quarterly magazine Passport.Todd Purdum has been named senior writer at Politico. He will continue as contributing editor at Vanity Fair.The Hollywood Reporter has appointed Alexandria Abramian as the publication’s homes and lifestyle editor. She was previously editor-in-chief of OCHome.read more

The BPA Worldwide Board of Directors voted through several amendment proposals at their Dec. 20 meeting in an effort to modernize and accommodate its association members’ digital practices. The not-for-profit auditing and accounting services provider handed down various rule modifications—updating the definition of Direct and Company request sources; eliminating the personal identifying questions from online request forms; reporting of app downloads; updating of digital magazine metrics—in an effort to address efforts to streamline various processes and update alongside its changing industry.Direct Request, Company Request DefinedDuring its May 2013 meeting, the BPA Board changed “Direct Request: Telecommunication” rules to include requests made by an employee’s supervisor to mixed results. At the latest meeting, the ruling was further amended to include a pair of definition clarifications for “Direct Request” and “Company Request.” One person “making a request through a single phone call for themselves and one other co-worker, regardless of title or function” is a direct request. The same request made by one person on behalf of “two or more co-workers” is now a company request. This new ruling includes all “written,” “telecommunication” and “electronic” requests.Personal Identifying Question EliminatedMedia owners’ shift from simple magazine publisher to multi-platform content provider is making it difficult for the BPA to track and monitor their subscription bases. In response, the BPA Board voted to eliminate the personal identifier question from all Web and electronic qualification forms. The move is supported by months of inquiry research. In May 2012, the BPA tested “subscriber recall and response accuracy for Web subscribers” on pre-populated Web forms. The positive results encouraged the BPA to now allow media owners the right to pre-populate Web forms. App Download Metric RevisedThe BPA defines app downloads as “single actions reported as month-by-month totals followed by an aggregated six-month average,” but as it can easily be misinterpreted as the aggregated average was the total number of app downloads for that six-month period the metric has been clarified. The designated “App Table” will now feature a beginning balance of cumulative apps downloaded (previous month’s total), month-by-month activity and an updated cumulative total.Updated Digital Magazine MetricsSince association members began reporting digital editions metrics in 2002, the BPA has regarded them as a unique distribution platform for print magazines and newspapers and have reported them “in alignment with its print counterpart.” To accommodate for association members’ desire for expanded information beyond simple distribution numbers, the BPA Board amended digital reporting rules to include: active views, number of sessions per issue in total and per device, number of pages accessed and time spent per device.In addition to these passed revisions, the BPA Board also formally set a launch date for its new reporting format—the period ending Dec. 2013. As of now, more than 300 brands already utilize the new reporting system.read more

Folio: What do you see as the biggest challenge for your brand in 2017? 2016 had its share of losses, but not all of them were tragic. Mental Floss, for instance, said goodbye to its print magazine at the end of the year, after a short, but fun, 15-year run. And while many were saddened or disappointed to see the unique magazine go, the brand pledged to forge ahead as a digital-only publication. To some in this industry, folding a print magazine can be interpreted as the beginning of the end, but the Dennis Publishing brand doesn’t see it that way. In fact, it argues that shedding its print product opens new doors. Ethan Trex: We are really trying to stick with what works well for our digital audience. We don’t want to just pour products from the magazine over to the web. But we do want to keep that editorial spirit and maintain the trust we earned. The playbook is already there. Amie Deutch: The decision to fold the magazine wasn’t necessarily a difficult one. One of the interesting things about us is that we have an ecosystem of about 20 million readers, whereas the magazine only had 125,000. So now those print resources are being devoted to video and the website, which is undergoing a redesign. We will also be focusing more on branded content. Folio: What about from an editorial standpoint, Ethan? But in terms of our own challenges, we don’t have any endemic advertising. We aren’t an epicurean brand for instance, we have no endemic business because we’re general interest and cover a wide variety of topics. The beauty in that is we can go after every category, but you have to slice and dice our research numbers. For instance, we have a lot of readers that are pet owners and spend a lot of money on their pets. This article originally appeared on Folio:’s sister site, MinOnline. Deutch: I think any content can lend itself to video. We can take an idea and add custom content and add a video component to it. I think what’s interesting is that the service editorial will create wonderful opportunities for our partners to tell valuable stories about their products. Deutch: From a business standpoint, that legacy of being grounded in a print product is important. But I think Mental Floss is about discovery. Maybe you weren’t aware of Mental Floss until someone shared a story, but once you found us you fell in love with the brand. I think our unique voice is inviting. We aren’t snarky. We don’t talk down to our readers. While we can distill key points from a complicated subject, it’s still a very inviting environment. Trex: Part of it is from our pedigree of having a magazine for years. It gave us credibility. You can look at lots of sites on the web that make promises, but we have a 15-year history that people know and know that it’s accurate. Trex: One of the great things of having the publishing team is we get those insights. We know things about our readers anecdotally, but the research opens up fun opportunities for us editorially because we know we have those pet-owner readers and can make editorial content around that and give value to our readers. With that in mind, we wanted to check back in on Mental Floss to hear how its digital-only life is going thus far and find out what’s next. We reached out to EVP and Publisher Amie Deutch and Editorial Director Ethan Trex. Folio: Will video continue to be a growing priority for you? Deutch: I could get on a soapbox and talk about programmatic. I think it serves its place, but I think publisher brands should matter. What we offer is great content in an environment that is meaningful to the reader—and that’s what an advertiser wants. Our job in 2017 is to make the pendulum swing back towards the quality publisher. Trex: Video is such a broad term at this point on the web. It’s not even what it was two years ago. Every platform has its own requirement, and we’re taking a different approach to each one. We have a successful YouTube channel with over a million followers and it’s mostly long form. Facebook is obviously different, it’s people snacking on video when they’re on their phones. So now we want to shift towards service and maintain that Mental Floss sensibility. Folio: You had a unique niche in print, but there are so many digital publications with, dare I say, quirky, smart content. How does Mental Floss stand out? Folio: Now that Mental Floss is digital only, what new products have you developed for your partners?read more

A day later, King released a follow up statement calling the allegations “serious and of great concern” and acknowledging that the company was pursuing a transfer of ownership. Thomas has since apologized for “lines that were crossed,” but maintains that any contact with Lacey was consensual.In the aftermath, 16 current staffers took it upon themselves to defend the company in a letter to the Portland Press Herald that felt an awful lot like an attempt at downplaying the controversy, arguing that “the toxic environment described in recent news accounts does not reflect our current culture,” and further claiming that “people who don’t know us are publicly demeaning us and threatening anyone who partners with us.”The acquisition announcement from State 23 Media stopped short of directly addressing the circumstances behind the sale, but was careful to note that the new ownership team has “no prior connection to Maine Media Collective.”New owner Adam JapkoApart from Japko—whose Carlisle, Mass.-based Esteem Media has housed New England Home and Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazines since they were spun-off from Network Communications, Inc. in 2014—investors in State 23 include local businesspeople Sandy Spaulding and Jill Hinckley; New England Home partners Chris Legg and Gary Mueller; Gerry Parker, the former COO and CFO of Network Communications; former Playbill publisher and Time Inc. veteran Bruce Hallett; and management consultant Karen Weltchek Mueller.“As publishers of New England Home, we watched the amazing connection and energy these Maine media brands created in their market,” said Japko in a statement. “Since 2005 we have been acquiring best in class regional media around the country, so getting this unique opportunity to invest in Maine’s local media and business communities made tremendous sense to us.”Speaking to the Bangor Daily News, Japko adds that “all but three” of Maine Media Collective’s current staffers will be retained.Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated that parent company Maine Media Collective had itself been sold. Thomas’s ownership of Maine Media Collective continues; only the media brands and their related events were involved in the transaction. Six weeks removed from the emergence of sexual harassment allegations against former owner and publisher Kevin Thomas, Maine magazine has been sold.State 23 Media, a group of investors led by Esteem Media founder Adam Japko, announced Wednesday that it has acquired the monthly title and its related assets, including Maine Home + Design and Old Port magazines, from Maine Media Collective, the company co-founded by Thomas in 2006. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.“We’re confident Adam and his team’s experience and expertise with national and local media properties will propel our business forward and allow us to continue making a positive impact on the state we love,” said publisher and CEO Andrea King, who will remain in the same role at the newly formed State 23.King said she was “stunned” in late April when former Maine Home + Design art director Jessie Lacey accused Thomas of making unwelcome sexual advances in 2010 and subsequently bullying her into leaving the company.Lacey’s Medium post—as well as an article in local magazine The Bollard in which she and other current and former employees elaborated on what they called a “toxic atmosphere” fostered by Thomas, former editor-in-chief Susan Grisanti (who left the company in 2016), and CFO Jack Leonardi—forced the company to cancel an upcoming event after losing sponsors and elicited both a resignation from Leonardi and a vague and non-committal open letter from King about “maintaining a positive, inclusive, and respectful company culture.”read more